Guy de Maupassant complete short stories volume 2 - Penn State ...

“Why, of course not, of course not.”
“If I catch him there again, shall I have the right to thrash
him and her also?”
“Why—why—why, yes.”
“Very well, then; I will tell you why I want to know. One
night last week, as I had my suspicions, I came in suddenly, and
they were not behaving properly. I chucked Polyte out, to go
and sleep somewhere else; but that was all, as I did not know
what my rights were. This time I did not see them; I only heard
of it from others. That is over, and we will not say any more
about it; but if I catch them again—by G—, if I catch them
again, I will make them lose all taste for such nonsense, Maitre
Cacheux, as sure as my name is Severin.”
Guy de Maupassant
49
HIS HIS HIS A AAVENGER
A VENGER
When M. Antoine Leuillet married the widow, Madame
Mathilde Souris, he had already been in love with her for ten
years.
M. Souris has been his friend, his old college chum. Leuillet
was very much attached to him, but thought he was somewhat
of a simpleton. He would often remark: “That poor Souris who
will never set the world on fire.”
When Souris married Miss Mathilde Duval, Leuillet was astonished
and somewhat annoyed, as he was slightly devoted to
her, himself. She was the daughter of a neighbor, a former proprietor
of a draper’s establishment who had retired with quite a
small fortune. She married Souris for his money.
Then Leuillet thought he would start a flirtation with his
friend’s wife. He was a good-looking man, intelligent and also
rich. He thought it would be all plain sailing, but he was mistaken.
Then he really began to admire her with an admiration
that his friendship for the husband obliged him to keep within
the bounds of discretion, making him timid and embarrassed.
Madame Souris believing that his presumptions had received a